It was a perfect day for the Florida baseball team. For three innings, anyway.
In
front of a school record crowd of 6,108 on a perfect day, the Gators
went up 7-2 and chased LSU starter Ryan Eades after three innings.
But not much went right after that.
Florida failed to score again, and LSU battled back to take an 8-7 win in the rubber game of the series.
Florida
is now 25-7 and 7-5 in the SEC, failing to take advantage of a loss by
SEC leader Kentucky. LSU is now 25-7 and 8-4 in the league.
Florida
jumped on Eades, who entered the game with a 1.91 earned run average,
for seven runs in the first three innings of the game. The big blow was a
three-run homer by Nolan Fontana, his sixth of the year.
But
Florida's bullpen couldn't hold a 7-2 lead. Steven Rodriguez, who
replaced starter Karsten Whitson just seven batters into the game, gave
up three runs in the fourth inning, and Greg Larson allowed two in the
seventh to tie the game.
Florida closer Austin Maddox gave up three straight singles in the eighth and then a sacrifice fly gave the Tigers an 8-7 lead.
The
Gators, who have lost five of their last seven games, next play Tuesday
at Florida State and then travel to Knoxville for a weekend series with
Tennessee.
LSU had 15 hits off the four UF pitchers with Tyler Moore collecting three of those hits.
Whitson
was making his second start since being diagnosed with a strained arm
but wasn't sharp, hitting a pair of batters and throwing a wild pitch.
Down
1-0, Florida scored twice in the bottom of the first thanks to a
Preston Tucker RBI double and a dropped fly ball in center. The Gators
added a run in the second before the four-run third.
